Pre-Christmas Health Tips, Holiday Cleanup & Water Treatment Print

• Fire restrictions around Arizona. Make sure you check local restrictions around the holidays.
• Katie taught "the Donkey Kick" exercise to Rosie.
• Covering the foods that are high in fiber.

Caller:

• Tom - He's a business executive and deals with eating out and gatherings and wants tips on choosing the best options without saying "I'm on a diet' everytime.

Recommendation - Most restaurants have healthy options now.  Look for lean meals and cut sauces, etc. Listen as Katie gives her advice.

• Rosie shares his favorite salads around the Valley.

• Dealing with the final few pounds your trying to lose.
• "What fits in your palm, fills your stomach" Bummer! But, remember when your looking at your plate.
• Cutting down on sauces, dressing, etc. will make a big difference.
• Staying in shape while your traveling and people dying from "the sitting disease."
• Standing desks and tips to make sure your doing it correctly.
• You DON'T need a lot of expensive equipment. Use objects around the house.
• PLAN, PLAN, PLAN.
• Find time during the day, no matter how your dressed or where you are.

• If you've gained some weight already, don't give up.
• Leave guilt at the door and get to work!

Sign Up for the Sanderson Ford Arizona Staycation!!!

*Thanks to Coyote Oaties Cookies for being a great partner!

If you're in the Phoenix or Scottsdale area and like what you heard, reach out to Katie at Go Conquer Fitness!

You have to love Arizona winters! There is plenty to do out in the yard and we have the experts from Harper's Nursery & Landscaping Company here to take your questions.

• Dealing with some freezing temps around Arizona.
• Feed your winter lawn once a month and be careful not to over-water.
• Over-seeding tips. We love the fertilizer from Hickman's Family Farms.
• Tips on proper mowing. The correct height and not taking too much in one session.

Text From a Listener:

• Can they use manure as seed cover or will that actually bring more seeds in the waste?

Recommendation - Yes and yes. It can, but it's also a great seed cover and should be fine.

• Adjusting your irrigation systems for winter.

Caring for Christmas trees and other holiday plants:

• Don't ever let your stand run out of water.
• Keep trees away from heater vents, fireplaces, etc.
• Avoid spaces with breezes by doors.
• Remember poinsetta's are tropical plants and need constant warm and bright spaces.

Texts From a Listener:

• Do they need to cover their baby palm trees to protect them from the frost?

Recommendation - It depends on the type of palm tree it is.  Jay talks through the varieties and which to be concerned about.

• His landlord cut down a tree, but left the stump. Now shoots are sprouting up. What should he be doing to keep it from coming back?

Recommendation - Jay would make a fresh cut, drill into the stump and put undiluted roundup into the holes.

Caller:

• Bob - His pine tree has browning needles and he wants to know if he should cut back the branches, remove the tree or what other option he has.

Recommendation - It really would take an expert eye from someone like John Eisenhower with Integrity Tree Service.  Older allepo pines have been dying back in the valley lately and they're not sure why. It can be expensive to remove one, so we'd get an expert out right away to set him up with a gameplan.

*We also discuss pruning an olive tree this time of year. (Not recommended)

• Russ - His Christmas tree stopped taking in water about a week ago and he's heard a few tips to get it "drinking" again. What do we think?

Recommendation - It really helps picking the freshest tree to start with. Rosie's only had luck with one method; soaking it completely in the pool for a day. Jay's advice on getting it to "drink" again, unfortunately involves making a fresh cut at the bottom of the tree again.

• Randy - He has a mature grapefruit tree in his backyard that's been overwhelmed by his tipu tree. He's run the drain from his evaporative cooler and is concerned that he's over watering. What do we think?

Recommendation - The overflow water from his evap cooler is full of salt and could be a big part of his problem. Add some gypsym or soil sulfur (Even Hickman's from above) then give it a slow drip watering to flush the system. Jay also has some advice for next spring.

• Joan - Can she use the silt from her rain gutters as part of her compost or on her lawn?

Recommendation - Absolutely, there is nothing wrong with that.

Text From a Listener:

• They just removed a stump in their yard. What should they use to fill it back in?

Recommendation - Fill dirt or top soil is easily accessible and available throughout the valley. It's not good to use mulch because it won't compact enought.

• Is now a good time to plant a chinese orchid tree?

Recommendation - Now is not ideal. Mid-February would be better after the frost threat is gone.

• Is now a good time to plant a pomegranite tree?

Recommendation - This IS a great time for deciduous fruit trees.  Get to digging!

• Jay covers some final "To Do List" items for this time of year.

Thanks to Jay for the great advice and remember Harper's Nursery & Landscaping Company for great holiday gift ideas!

• Talking about all the ways you can connect with Rosie on the House.
• We are so lucky with the weather we have in Arizona!
• Discussing the current Phoenix housing market and next year's projections.
• "Moving Mom back in" is a topic that comes up a lot, lately. Rosie talks about a current project he's working on.

Caller:

• Pete - He has saltillo tile outside of his home and after the last 20 years they've broken up and he needs to do something with them.

Recommendation - Rosie talks about his options and an option using overlay pavers to cover the old surface. He can replace it with the original saltillo tile again, but it'll need to be replaced in another 15-20 years.

Our topic in the newsletter this week is a discussion on cleaning up after the holiday season:

• Better packing will make next year a lot smoother.
• Storing string lights for the holidays.

Caller:

• Larry - What is the best way to insulate the crawl space in his block home?

Recommendation - We'll tackle it in the next segment........

• Rosie talks about the mission at St. Vincent DePaul!
• We answer Larry's question from the last segment.

Recommendation - The crawl space needs to be able to breath and we talk about using block foam or fiberglass insulation under the floor joists.

Emails From Listeners:

• Martinez - He has a bid for cleaning his duct system. Romey reads the quote and he wants to know if this is a good deal or not.

Recommendation - It sounds like it is NOT a good deal. It should be twice that cost and it is most likely not done by an AC expert. Rosie talks through why this is a bad idea.  You don't want cleaning companies taking apart your AC system. (Most don't include that anyway)

*Rosie gets on his soapbox and talks through what it should cost, why some don't work and how often you need it done.

• Joel - He's had 2 slab leaks in the last few months and both copper pipes he replaced had pitting in them. Should he replace them all now before he gets another leak? He has wood floors and wants to know if he should be proactive.

Recommendation - This will require a bit more information and with the wood floors, it's usually better to be safe than sorry.  Pitting isn't usually the reason a copper pipe fails. There seems to be more questions than answers here, though. He could be a great candidate for ePipe and Stampede Plumbing can do that here in the Valley.

• Carrie - She and her husband are getting ready to build a new home. It's going to be south of Maricopa. Should she consider being her own contractor?

Recommendation - She'll need to ask herself a few questions. How much time does she have to investigate contractors? Rosie talks through what a General Contractor can offer, how the pricing works and how it's not a net gain on your savings.

Caller:

• Terry - He's concerned that the copper pipe running up the side of his home and through his attic. Will it freeze and should he wrap it with something to protect it?

Recommendation -  If there is any exposed pipes, it should definitely be wrapped. He shouldn't need to do anything about the pipes in the attic.

Emails From Listeners:

• He's house hunting in Fountain Hills and loves what he is learning from Rosie on the House!
• Charlotte - They have a mattress that's not suitable for use. Is there anyone who will pick it up for free? They also have a tv that Goodwill won't take.

Recommendation - It costs money to dispose, so probably not. She can call Scotty Waste Services. For the TV, she can call Westech Recycler's and they'll pick it up.

Caller:

• Larry - How do you square doors on kitchen cabinets?

Recommendation - He should have surface mounted hinges. He can take a string to measure a square door and adjust the hinges accordingly.

There's been plenty of news about unhealthy water. We're here to seperate the facts and myths:

• First Red Flag in water treatment.....their first selling point is to scare you!
• Discussing a "Final Barrier" in regards to water.
• Rosie shares a story about toxic water while he was traveling.
• Reverse Osmosis takes the taste of chlorine out of your drinking water.
• How long can purified water rest? Indefinitely, under the right conditions.
• Cleaning and maintaining systems.
• Describing the way the R.O. System works and filters.

Properly maintaining a reverse osmosis system:

• What is included.
• Keeping your filters sanitized.
• Cleaning methods and equipment must be certified to be done correctly.
• Dealing with filters in your refrigerator.
• How to know your R.O. system is working. We'll cover monitoring in the next segment.

Callers:

• Stephanie - Her husband flushes out the water heater every year. They just installed a water softener. Will this leave less sediment in the water heater?

Recommendation - Yes. There should be significantly less and he even talks about other methods besides softeners that will get that done too.

• Setting the correct temperature for your water heater to eliminate unhealthy living organisms. 
• Going green and decreasing the water flow is actually decreasing the cleaning capacity in some of our appliances.

• Bill - He pours himself a pitcher of water out each night to "off gas" before he uses it for his coffee in the morning. Is that not necessary with a R.O. system?

Recommendation - He shouldn't need to do that anymore. He can do it and it won't hurt anything, but it shouldn't be necessary.

Letter From a Listener:

• Jeff - He shut down his R.O. system two years ago, but after hearing us today he wants to fire it back up. What's the process for getting it back up and running?

Recommendation - The 1st step would be to sanitize the system and then he can install all new filters. We discuss the costs he can expect on filters.

• Keeping water safe and discussing the situation in Flint, MI and across the US.
• Salt free systems. The misconceptions around these systems.